Leah Messer is making sure her daughters are well-informed when it comes to their reproductive rights. In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, the Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star sits down with 12-year-old twins Aliannah and Aleeah Grace in an exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday’s new episode of the MTV show to have a talk about their rights.
“With my girls becoming teenagers … and them taking away abortion rights and access and resources that a lot of women need, I think that I should have a talk with them,” Messer tells the cameras before broaching the topic with her girls. The reality personality, who is also mom to 9-year-old daughter Adalynn, starts off by asking her twins about school, joking that the question she really doesn’t want to ask is more in line with if either of the two has a boyfriend.
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“Did you have a boyfriend Aleeah?” she asks her embarrassed daughter, who responds, “Oh my gosh, don’t bring it up right now.” Messer continues that she doesn’t want to be “naive” to her daughters “having little crushes in school,” noting how “awkward” middle school is in general. “Your bodies are changing; hormones are changing; life is changing,” the MTV star continues, pointing out that her girls are just a couple of years away from the age she was when she got pregnant with them.
“That scares me every single day because I would never want you guys to experience that same [thing],” Messer tells her girls. “I want you guys to be able to pursue your education, pursue your dreams and what you’re passionate about before having so much responsibility at such a young age.” It’s then that she turns her speech to current events. “I know you guys have heard about them overturning Roe v. Wade – that’s about women’s rights,” Messer explains.
“Abortion- you guys know that that’s an option. Like if you would get pregnant at a young age or if you had a stillborn,” she continues. “This is why it’s also important that we continue to fight for women having that access and resource, and it comes to laws and our rights as women.” Asking her girls what they can do to help protect those rights, Aleeah points out that protesting and voting are important ways to fight back against reproductive oppression.
“Raising daughters, I wanna be able to … not only fight for the right thing but stand together,” Messer says. “And I feel like I’ve done my best to try to educate you guys the best way I could. I think that at the end of the day, we won’t do everything perfect, but we’re doing our best to make sure that you guys do even better than what we did. And you guys get to experience everything in life.”
“The fight for abortion rights is far from over!” MTV notes. “You still have power to make change; share facts, resources and support, and help stop the spread of misinformation. Get informed at AbortionFinder.org, the nation’s most comprehensive network of verified abortion providers.” Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
